In today’s Gospel Story (Matthew 20:1-16a) a wealthy landowner hires several different groups of workers to labor in his vineyard. They work different shifts, but all get paid the same amount. The ones who had worked the longest were annoyed that they got paid the same as those who worked less than they did. The majority report sees this story as Jesus teaching his disciples that Abba’s ways are different from ours. As usual, the minority report can be as different as I allow it to be.
Several lines in today’s readings offer insight into the Gospel Story: Isaiah, “Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near”; Psalm, “The Lord is near to all who call upon him”; Alleluia, “Open our hearts, O Lord, to listen to the words of your Son”. This entails my own journey of conversion, which is no simple thing. Meister Eckhart: “There is a journey you must take. It is a journey without destination. There is no map. Your soul will lead you. And you can take nothing with you.” There is no destination, only the ongoing experience that this is real, that something is going on. St Augustine: “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you”. The stuff of ordinary everyday living takes new depths of meaning, as do the people I encounter in my every day.
“Seek the LORD while he may be found, call him while he is near”. Is Abba ever not near? By the very fact that we are alive we are in Abba and Abba is in us. What is missing is our awareness. Wherever we are on our journey, whatever is going on in our life at any time, we can seek Abba happening, we can call him because he his near to all who call upon him. When I ask him to “open our hearts to listen to the words of your Son”, am I telling Abba what I want him to say, or am I willing to let go and listen? Nothing outside me has to change, only my internal desire to look for Abba in everything, which makes no sense until I make it a part of my every day living. What am I looking for in Abba? A “personal savior” who makes me feel good, “saved” ,so I can just go in with my life as it is, or someone who will be with me on my journey of conversion that will have effects on my lifestyle and values? Richard Rohr: “Christianity is a lifestyle, a way of being in the world that is simple, non-violent, shared, and loving. We made it into an established “religion” (and all that goes with that) and avoided the lifestyle change itself. One could be warlike, greedy, racist, selfish and vain in most of Christian history, and still believe that Jesus is one’s “personal Lord and Savior” . . . The world has no time for such silliness anymore. The suffering on earth is too great”. Current events show how true this is. And yet, changes in lifestyles, values, are crucial. Sometimes we choose to change, sometimes we recognize we have changed. Grace is real.
In the Parable of the Landowner and how he paid his workers, Jesus offers insight about the ways of His, and our, Abba, and what we think of as the Kingdom of God. For Jesus this kingdom is happening now, while for many of us it is heaven where we hope to go after we die. We all have our own images of heaven, and whatever our particular image is, it serves to reinforce our own ideas about many things, while making us the ins, and others who don’t think like we do, the outs. Jesus is telling us that His, and Our, Abba is totally generous beyond anything we can imagine, and certainly does not see things as we do. We like a God who agrees with us, who sees things as we do, does’t like the same people we don’t like, etc. We envision a God who is just, who punishes evil, rewards those who do good and avoid evil. Of course we define what the “doing good” and “avoiding evil” mean, again according to what makes us feel comfortable and in control. We like the idea of a merciful Abba, as long as we can decide who Abba is merciful to. When it comes to people we don’t like for whatever reason, we come up with interpretations etc that make what we don’t like about them to be an offense against our god. And since this god doesn’t like them it’s ok for us to not like them. And so it goes.
The Kingdom of God happens when I choose to open myself to the Spirit in my life, who “will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you”, in other words what it means for me to live as Jesus’ disciple in my own circumstances, whatever they may be at any time. Jesus invites me to a relationship, to a way of life. My responding to this invitation leads me on a journey of conversion, a way of life. Pope Leo reminds us that St Augustine taught every human being is capable of finding God: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you”. . . “Lord, let me know myself, and let me know You”. My journey of conversion involves me a hard look at myself, my values, my goals, my identity, and so on. More wandering and wondering. Pope Leo: “Let us ask the Lord to grant us the gift of true conversion of heart, so that we may better respond to His love for us and share that love with those around us”.
So, what is the Spirit saying in all this? Where is Abba in my daily living? What is Jesus saying to me in this parable? Living the Welcome Prayer is is increasingly important because if I am open to going beyond my comfort area and admit there is a lot I don’t know or understand, everything is a window to Abba happening in and around me. It is an invitation to let go of my need to feel comfortable and in control, and go where this takes me. Just sayin . . .